The Pied Piper - NOT AVAILABLE

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Brief Synopsis

In 1349, when the Black Plague is threatening all of Northern Germany, a group of gypsy musicians, led by Mattio and his wife Helga, encounter a lone minstrel known as the Pied Piper. The musician accompanies them to the walled city of Hamelin. In the town, Burgermaster Poppendick's family is preparing for the wedding of their eleven-year-old daughter Lisa. Her intended is Franz, the wicked and arrogant son of the Baron, who plans to use Lisa's dowry to wage war against his enemies and is secretly having an affair with Lisa's mother, Frau Poppendick. The Baron, hoping to save himself from the plague by currying favor with Church officials, is building a huge cathedral, which has been funded by exorbitant taxes he has forced onto the community, and plans to complete the cathedral with Lisa's dowry. When Lisa becomes ill with a fever, the Jewish alchemist, Melius, prescribes rest and soothing music. The pied piper, who, along with the gypsies, has been denied entrance into the city, is now allowed inside to play for her and she makes a miraculous recovery. Later, Lisa is given a hand-painted miniature portrait of herself by Melius's crippled apprentice Gavin, an artistically inclined youth who has long been in love with her. As she is admiring it, a swarm of black rats appear. Melius warns the town officials that the rats carry the plague, but, instead of listening to his concern, they imprison him for his decision to search for the plague's antidote rather than develop a formula to make gold. After the wedding ceremony, the celebration is ruined by the appearance of more rats that emerge from the huge wedding cake, which has been designed as a replica of the cathedral. As panic ensues, the piper is hired to lure the rats with his playing to the Weser River, where they drown. However, when the officials then refuse to pay him the amount they had promised, the piper plays a different tune, luring Lisa and the other children far away from the city. Although Gavin is also affected by the music, he is unable to keep up with the children, and watches sadly as they disappear into the mist. When the gypsies leave for the Netherlands, Gavin accompanies them there, where he hopes to become a painter. Blamed by Franz for the town's problems, Melius is burned at the stake as a heretic. As Franz is watching the execution, he realizes that his body shows the preliminary symptoms of the plague and that he, too, will soon die. Although the pied piper and the children are never seen in Hamelin again, a cross lies in the town square, commemorating the sad tale.